There are few things worse than boarding a long-haul flight and hearing the piercing cry of an unhappy child behind you. While there's not much parents can do, a crying child is up there with someone hogging the armrests or putting their hair over the back of their seat in terms of nightmare airline passengers.
Flying is an ordeal at the best of times, but when you end up with an uncooperative neighbor and have your whole ordeal uploaded online, it can be the flight from hell.
29-year-old Jeniffer Castro was flying on a GOL Airlines domestic flight in Brazil, traveling on December 4, 2024. She was shocked to find a toddler in her window seat, and when Castro reportedly ordered the child out of her seat, things got heated. Alongside a third person filming the interaction, the kid's mother took out a phone to film Castro and can be heard saying: "I’m recording your face, this is disgusting. It’s the 21st century and people have no empathy for children."
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The child apparently cried for the entirety of the 50 minute flight from Rio de Janeiro to Belo Horizonte, with Castro going viral in the aftermath.
Speaking on the Cola Mais Podcast in January 2025, Castro criticized the crew for not getting involved, then said she was planning on taking legal action.
According to the New York Post, Castro has launched proceedings and is citing 'judicial secrecy' for not revealing the amount she's seeking.
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Saying she wants to stop similar public shaming and what she called 'unauthorized exposure' in future, she explained: "Since that incident, my life has taken a turn I could never have imagined.
"What should have been just an ordinary flight turned into an extremely embarrassing situation, exposing me unfairly and causing consequences that affected both my personal and professional life.
“I was the target of judgments, attacks, and speculation from people who don’t even know the full story."
While she says a crying child can be expected on a flight, she maintains that she was shocked that the other person who had nothing to do with the incident ended up filming her.
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Saying her life has changed a lot and she's now left her previous field of banking, Castro added: "In my personal life, at the height of the repercussions, I practically didn’t leave the house.
“In addition to the emotional impact, I was also afraid, because we know that, unfortunately, there are many bad people in the world."
Calling out GOL Airlines, she continued: "I decided to sue the airline because what happened to me was a huge embarrassment, and this situation should never have reached this point.
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“No one deserves to go through what I went through, being filmed, insulted, and attacked just for exercising a basic right."
Maintaining that the lawsuit is about stopping this kind of behavior, Castro said: "We all have rights, and they must be respected, regardless of other people’s opinions."
She concluded: "We live in a society where ‘no’ is often seen as rude or selfish, but this needs to change.
"Each person has their own reasons, preferences, and limits, and all of this must be respected without judgment."
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No action is being taken against the child's mother, while Castro says she wants to 'rebuild' her life while advocating for personal boundaries.
Despite Castro adding 2.1 million followers to her Instagram and apparently securing brand deals in the aftermath, she's awaiting the results of her legal action.